Illusions For Concerts

Yesterday I saw Rod Stewart live in concert in my home city; Norwich.  The show was fantastic and at 73, Rod did great and is still full of energy performing for well over 2 hours to a packed house.

The production was pretty straight forward and was very much about the music, which one would expect from such an artist.

It occurred to me though while watching him that there was no additional production in terms of ‘something else in addition to the music.

Rod simply walked out on stage at the start of his first set, which I felt could have been so much of a ‘moment’ had the producers been a bit clever with this.

A magical entrance would have heightened the whole atmosphere and audience reactions ten-fold had Rod suddenly appeared from nowhere.  Don’t get me wrong the audience went thrilled to see him; however, it could have been heightened!

Many great artists utilise grand illusion within their concerts very well which adds another dimension to the production in addition to ‘wow’ moments.

Some of the biggest names in music have been very clever with this concept, artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Usher and such.

In addition to their grand entrances, many utilise illusions throughout the show.  MJ was renowned for this, he would do many illusions and one that sticks in my mind is being locked inside an upright steel coffin with a set of huge spikes ready to impale him inside.  Once the spikes had been pushed through, the sides would open to show that he had vanished.  He would then immediately re-appear on a crane for the start of Beat It……The crowd went nuts!

I’ve been fortunate to have consulted on many live productions and it’s always great to be given the opportunity to get creative and come up with unique ways of incorporating illusions into live shows.

Check out my consultancy page if this is something you are looking to do.